A major problem within the check cashing industry is the increasing risks arising from the copying of checks by unauthorized individuals. These risks have increased due to the improved technology in the areas of copiers, computer aided design and desk top publishing. Advancements in these areas have created the ability to duplicate checks and other negotiable documents to such a high degree of accuracy that an individual receiving the check or negotiable document has difficulty in determining if the instrument is fraudulent.
A variety of methods have been implemented to protect against the unauthorized copying of checks and negotiable documents. These preventative methods have included the use of multi-colored check faces and specially designed check backgrounds that are not easily copied. Some manufacturers have utilized the placement of the word "void" in a muted design that normally blends in with the background of a check but becomes visible when the check is processed through a single or full color copier. Other manufacturers use a rainbow color scheme with graduated colors from blue to green or blue to purple across the face of a check or negotiable document. The rainbow color scheme makes the check more difficult to photocopy.
Another technique utilized to protect against fraudulent checks and negotiable documents is the placement of artificial watermark certification seals upon the check or negotiable document. The seals are only apparent to an individual when viewing a check or negotiable document from an angle. The watermark certification seals cannot be copied and a warning placed upon the check or negotiable document alerts an individual to the required presence of the watermark.
However, none of these security methods protect two particularly vital areas of a check or negotiable document. The most critical areas of a check or negotiable document are the signature area and the endorsement area on the back of the check. None of the methods to date have focused upon protection of these particularly vital areas. Another problem arises from the fact that the watermark certification seals placed upon the check or negotiable document are difficult to see, making it difficult for an individual cashing the check to easily determine whether the proper watermark seal is present. Thus, a need has arisen for a method and apparatus specifically protecting the vital signature and endorsement areas of a check or negotiable document and allowing an individual to more easily determine the presence of a watermark certification seal.
Another method utilized to deter duplication of checks or negotiable documents uses a pantograph design, having a different screen density and/or different lines per inch within the screen. This causes a difference in the size of the dots making up the design, but the differences are muted to the naked eye. Warning phrases and words, such as VOID, COPY, etc., are designed within the larger or smaller dots.
If a check or negotiable document using this feature is processed through a copier or other scanning device, the larger dots are copied, but the smaller dots are not copied. Thus, the phrase encoded within the differing size dots will appear in the copy. The degree of success of this procedure depends upon the pantograph design, the ink color, the screen density and the lines per square inch of the screen. However, current technological advances in copying devices allow various settings to be used upon the copying device. Thus, by iterative procedures, an unauthorized individual could adjust the settings of a sophisticated copying device to copy a check or negotiable document in such a manner that the encoded warning clause would not appear.